1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sheet-fed printing press which can perform single-sided printing and double-sided printing in one pass when printing a sheet by intaglio printing and stencil printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing presses involve various mechanisms, and they are classified by items, such as a printing process, the form of the sheet, the method of applying pressure, and the method of transfer. Of these items, the printing process is classified by the shape of a plate for doing printing (a printing plate), and includes the following four processes: relief printing, lithographic printing, intaglio printing, and stencil printing.
Of these printing processes, intaglio printing using an intaglio plate is classified into engraved intaglio printing for printing valuables such as bills, stock certificates, and stamps, and gravure printing for printing front is pieces of magazines and a complete series of artworks, and further enabling even synthetic films, building materials, etc. to be printed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 1989-37272). These types of intaglio printing are put to a wide variety of uses. Stencil printing using a stencil includes mimeographing and screen printing (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-225441). Stencil printing can use many types of liquids, such as inks and varnishes, and can form thick deposited layers of inks and varnishes on materials to be printed on. Thus, stencil printing permits printing on various forms of materials to be printed on.
If intaglio printing and stencil printing are performed on one surface of a sheet, or on both of one surface and the other surface of the sheet, however, it has been necessary, for example, to perform printing using an intaglio printing press, and then perform printing using a stencil printing press. Thus, a space for installation of the machines and a place for storage of sheet need to be ensured, and much time and effort are required for relocation and registration of the sheet. As a result, the operating efficiency decreases.
Moreover, intaglio printing involves an ink transfer method in which only one surface of the sheet being transported is printed. On the other hand, stencil printing uses an ink transfer method in which only the other surface of the sheet being transported, i.e., the surface on the side opposite to the one surface, is printed. That is, if an intaglio printing press and a stencil printing press are coupled via a transfer cylinder or the like, it is possible to perform intaglio printing on one surface of a sheet, and also perform stencil printing on the other surface of the sheet. However, the problem is posed that it is not possible to perform both of intaglio printing and stencil printing on one surface of a sheet.
The present invention has been accomplished as a solution to the above-described problems. The present invention provides a sheet-fed printing press which can print one surface of a sheet (single-sided printing) and/or both of the one surface and the other surface of the sheet (double-sided printing) in one pass when performing printing on the sheet by intaglio printing and stencil printing.